National Champs!

Despite the budget cutbacks (including the loss of the entire swimming program), it's been a quite a year for UW sports. In the fall, the women won the national cross country title. And just yesterday, the softball team became national champions, beating the top-seeded Florida Gators 3-2 for the title. In a remarkable run, National Player of the Year Danielle Lawrie pitched every inning of the UW's six games at the World Series in Oklahoma City. (Times baseball writer Larry Stone compares her numbers to those of early-20th-Century baseball Hall of Famer Christy Matthewson

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Lawrie said she received extra motivation from a perceived slight from Florida coach Tim Walton in February, when, after the Huskies beat the Gators (three of the Gators five losses were to the Huskies), Walton implied that the Huskies weren't among the Pac-10's elite programs. After yesterday's game, Walton called Lawrie "one of the best pitchers in the world."